A surprising number of things long stuck in amber got rolling in 2020. The '73 Raleigh Competition/De Selby project had been stalled since September 2019, but I got rolling on it again this August, building up wheels and putting together my first Dingle Drive fixed-gear bike that lets me switch from a 70-in pavement fixed-gear to a 60-in gravel fixed gear in <30 seconds.
But wait - I had another 531-tubed Raleigh from 1973, a bare Gran Sport frame acquired for $50 shipped. And could I make it work under Clunker Challenge 100 guidelines? Well ... yes. And the jury is still out on its next incarnation ...
But then that led me to reexamining the stable, where the '74 Allegro hung on its pegs. And every time I would decide it was time to part it out and sell it, I would put it on the rack, pause to look at it - and after staring at it transfixed for several minutes I would sigh and put it back on its pegs. It occurred to me that I had never really ridden this bike anywhere, so I took it out for a long Sunday ride. And now its a keeper, period.
All of the above happened against a background of suddenly, abruptly shaking off inertia and passivity and starting to ride again in June and slowly building back up. There came a day when I looked at my beloved Mercian Vincitore and put it back to rights and started riding it again, seriously, for the first time in years, riding routes I hadn't been on in years.
Then I replaced the MKS Sylvan track pedals with some Egg Beaters and didn't die.
Then the next thing I knew I was riding before dawn and taking longer rides on weekends and forcing myself up the single nastiest, steepest climb in the county on a 70-in fixed-gear. I wound up with 1100 miles between June and the end of November, which might not sound like much, but it's the most miles I've ridden in one year since our children arrived in 2008.
2020 was also the year I finally released
an album (or
here or
here or other streaming services) and I took advantage of the local online music drive to play publicly again for the first time in many years - I sound vintage and classic, does that count?